The scandal of the great presentation

There should be a law against most internal company conferences. No… I really should!

My name is Bob Etherington and I am a veteran of at least 100 things to do in the last 40 years and almost all of them should never have been allowed! Well… let me rephrase it a bit: plenary sessions should never have been allowed. That’s the part where the audience sits row after row in semi-dark theater style, while their bosses and peers talk to them. Sometimes he admonishes them; Praise them mostly and generally show them PowerPoint slides every time. “This is what they want!” Yes of course!

I asked a senior manager from a large British company what his main goal was when he got on the conference platform. He replied, without hesitation: “I’m trying to impress them!”

But Geoff (that’s his name so by now if you read this you’ll know it’s him) your audience doesn’t want to hear about ‘You’. They are not the least bit interested in ‘You’. And you [dear reader] they’re not the least bit interested in Bob Etherington… that’s the way it is.

Of course, what the conference audience is asking – a man – is the same unspoken question you have in your head reading this: “What’s in it for ME?”

His audience—any conference audience—seeks general and personal inspiration to work hard to make the company even more money in the next fiscal year. You know from all the management courses you’ve attended that the art of management is getting staff to do what needs to be done voluntarily anyway. So telling them about all the good and worthy works YOU have completed will not get them to do anything. Remember David Brent’s (Ricky Gervais) speech to his staff in the early 2000’s BBCTV comedy ‘The Office’. “I have good news and bad news today. The bad news is that we are merging with the Swindon office, so some of you will be made redundant.” [Silence and shocked faces] …But the good news is… I’ve been promoted! [More dumbfounded silence] …Oh… I can see some of you are still in the bad news!” We cringe in shame because we’ve witnessed this kind of rude statement in the real world of business. It’s not as rare as we’d expect .

In a recent human resources survey, it was once again firmly established that what people value most in their job is not what many managers think it is. The most important factors are:

1) Feeling appreciated.

2) Have something interesting to do.

3) To be kept on the inner path.

4) Sympathy for personal problems.

5) Money.

6) A happy work environment.

7) Promote leads.

8) Job security.

So, to inspire the tight lines of your employees to show up early, stay late (and work hard while working for you), tell them how great they are and give them a compliment. If times are tough, keep them informed by telling them what’s going on. Stop the rumors and tell them what you’re doing to make things right for them. Tell them how they will personally benefit from doing what needs to be done.

Also have the good manners to rehearse your presentation in front of someone in a similar position in your company and ask for genuine feedback on how the message is getting across. Showing up with a memory card containing all your PowerPoint slides half an hour early and hoping for the best is not an inspiring move. Victorian Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli stated that “Everyone loves flattery… but with royalty it’s applied with a palette.” His people, like my people at Bob Etherington Group, are his royalty and nothing happens without them. His “stuff” about his department and his personal triumphs is not what most internal audiences want to hear. They are there for inspiration. So inspire them… flatter them… Say: “Thank you”… “I’m proud of you”…”Well done!” (the rarest and most powerful words in the management lexicon)

Now you’re talking business!